The Bible as One Book?

Making Sense of the Bible as One Book or Exploring the Difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship

July 21, 2012

This is a wildly preliminary draft. Criticism most welcome, especially before 8 a.m. Pacific Time, July 21, 2012.

In reviewing suggestions for sermon topics I've received over the last year, one that shows up several times is: What do you make of the difference between the OT and NT? The OT seems severe and stern; the NT is more positive. How does that all hold together?

Obviously, for Christians the most admirable personality, the most authoritative theologian, the supreme teacher about spiritual life is Jesus. Some of the highlights of his teaching are passages like:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. Matthew 5:44, 45.

Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners (Matthew 11:19). He was famous as a healer (Matthew 4:23-24). He was a defender of children (Matthew 18; Luke 18). What's not to like?

The most famous follower of Jesus, the evangelist Paul, wrote passages like these:

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. . . . Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 1 Corinthians 13.

These passages epitomize the NT focus on love, grace, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, service. In contrast we think of OT passages like these:

And the LORD said, "I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing--all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them." Genesis 6:7. (God said this about the descendants of Adam and Eve only ten generations after the Creation.)

For my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, so you may live there. And I will destroy them completely. You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars. Exodus 23:23-24. (Notice how the writer equates divine and human agency in the genocide.)

When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. Deuteronomy 7:2. (No mercy?)

"The LORD also said to me, 'I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.' . . . The LORD was so angry with Aaron that he wanted to destroy him, too. But I prayed . . . , and the LORD spared . . . . Deuteronomy 9:13-20. (Moses is more merciful than God.)

The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, 'Destroy them!' Deuteronomy 32:27. (Protection and favor for Israel; annihilation for the natives—reminiscent of the thinking and practice of Christian Europeans vis-à-vis Native Americans.)

They replied, "We did it because we--your servants--were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded his servant Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it. So we feared greatly for our lives because of you. That is why we have done this. Joshua 9:24 (Here pagans testify they have heard about God's genocidal edict and are attempting to thwart it by interposing a relationship with Israel between themselves and God.)

Additional infamous OT stories that might come to mind: God's command for Abraham to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22), God's instantaneous execution of Uzzah for touching the ark—an instinctive, well-intentioned action (2 Samuel 6), God's failure to remove King David after he ordered the murder of Uriah in stark contrast to God's judgment against King Ahab for a similar act (2 Samuel 11ff; 1 Kings 21).

Official Adventist doctrine declares:

1. The Holy Scriptures: The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, are the written Word of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. In this Word, God has committed to man the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of God's acts in history. (2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Ps. 119:105; Prov. 30:5, 6; Isa. 8:20; John 17:17; 1 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12.)

According to the Church, the Bible in its entirety, OT and NT together, is the written Word of God. The whole Bible is “the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of God's acts in history.”

However, given the stark contrasts we've seen above, we have to ask, What kind of interpretive process can we use so the Book speaks understandably to our lives, our times?

First, we have to recognize that I've cherry-picked extreme statements that exaggerate the difference between the OT and NT. There are passages in the OT that picture God as gracious and just, as the God of all humanity, not the petty God of the Jews only. For example, see Psalm 87, Isaiah 40-43, Daniel 4. And there are passages in the NT that make God appear vengeful and petty--John 3:17b, Revelation 14:7-11, Romans 1.

Still, there is a difference between the religion of the NT and the religion of the OT. So how do we think about this difference?

In contrast to classic conservatism (and even more so, fundamentalism) there is change across time. It's not uniform, linear growth, but in general, later is better. The book of Judges is written as an argument against the ways of “historic Israel.” In fact, it reads as a rebuttal to the argument referenced repeatedly in the first chapters of Samuel that Israel had been closer to God before they had a king. The writer of Judges recounts horrific stories then concludes, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6, 21:25). When the Jews were rebuilding their temple after its destruction and their decades of exile in Babylon, the prophet Haggai prophesied, “The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, have spoken!" The Jews were not to pine for the “good old days.” They were to anticipate the coming better days.

For the prophets change was not always bad. It was not deterioration or apostasy. Sometimes it was advancement. It was growth. Jeremiah writes nostalgically about the "ancient paths" in chapter 6 (Jeremiah 6:16). But in chapter 3 he writes about forgetting the Ark and not missing it! (Jeremiah 3:16). And in chapter 31, he writes about a new (and obviously superior) covenant (Jeremiah 31:31). The prophets certainly valued their heritage. They treasured the Word of God that had come through Moses and others across Israel's history. They also constantly pointed forward. They dismissed elements of Israel's religious heritage as mere history to be jettisoned from the living religion.

Most people familiar with the Bible see the spirituality and theology of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel as richer, wiser, truer than the more primitive theology of Moses. This is not meant as as denigration of Moses, but a recognition that God's people are capable of learning over time. If God is the teacher and Israel the student, it is reasonable to expect progress. Later lessons would build on earlier lessons, just as calculus builds on the knowledge of algebra and trigonometry.These prophets, who are revered as the wisest, most exalted preachers of God, did not see themselves as the pinnacle, as the last word.

Jeremiah's comment on the Ark is perhaps one of the most dramatic illustrations of the prophets' expectation of progress. 

"And when your land is once more filled with people," says the LORD, "you will no longer wish for 'the good old days' when you possessed the Ark of the LORD's Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark Jeremiah 3:16).

Even the Ark, the box which carried with it God's dazzling, even deadly, radiance, was expected to become a mere artifact of history. It was not an eternal sacrament, an eternal temple of God's presence. If the Ark was expected to fade into mere history, why would we be surprised if some theological understandings associated chronologically with the Ark also faded from relevance and were replaced with brighter, clearer, truer vision?

From the days of the apostles, Christians have seen Jesus as the great leap forward, the grand, climactic revelation of God. This is voiced by passages such as:

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. Hebrews 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word. And the word was with God. And the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God,* is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us (John 1:1-18, passim).

Some theological traditions have elevated the writings of the Apostle Paul to the status of “final, most accurate theology.” I flat-out deny this. Paul is not the ultimate interpreter of God or of Christ. Jesus remains superior to Paul. And Jesus himself pointed beyond his own words and deeds to the ministry of his successors.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. John 12:14

"There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can't bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. John 16:12, 13.

Peter affirmed this creative role of people after Jesus when he made his speech in Jerusalem about the need to innovate in theological and religious practice.

At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: "Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. God knows people's hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers* with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus." Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. Acts 15:7-12

Peter bases his argument for change on two things: human well-being and the contemporary testimony of the Spirit. Note, Peter does not quote any Bible passage. He trusts the experience of God's people, both over time—the long history of the Jewish people with the strict Mosaic rules—and in the immediate present—the visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Gentiles at Cornelious' house. On the basis of that experience, he corrects Scripture!

As children of the Apostles I think we are not only “allowed” to do this, we are required to do this. Christians have already done this in rejecting polygamy and slavery even though the Bible explicitly allows for both.

What principles should guide us as we decided what elements in the Bible are enduring, and which are time- or culture-limited?

We follow the example of Jesus is putting morality ahead of religiosity. In Matthew 15 and Mark 7, Jesus is challenged for allowing his disciples to violate long standing Jewish tradition. Jesus responds by citing the example of David violating even more impressively credentialed rules for the well-being of his men. Then cites the OT truism: I prefer mercy, not sacrifice.

Jesus refines his definition of this commanding morality in Luke 13, where he blatantly confronts Jewish Sabbath-keeping with the need of a disabled woman. The well-being of this woman outweighed hundreds of years of Jewish practice based squarely on the Ten Commandments. 

The goal of Scripture is the revelation of God. (John 1:1-12). We test our correct understanding of that revelation by how our understanding affects the well-being of people.

Just as the Ark was expected to fade into history as people came to a richer, deeper understanding of the ubiquity of God, so some of the old pictures of God are now seen as outdated. God the despotic king is no longer a helpful metaphor for understanding God. God as the stern, partial father, favoring his Son or his family over all claims of justice and equity is a defective view. It does not lead to human well-being. Instead we will rely on our more modern understanding of good fathering as a more trustworthy image of God.

The church has already moved dramatically away from certain elements of the Bible, taken literally. We reject slavery no matter how "humanitarian" the masters are. We reject Paul's idea that woman should not speak in church and should not exercise authority over men. (The most authoritative voice in the Adventist Church is that of a dead woman.) We reject polygamy. We reject the New Testament's blanket rejection of remarriage after divorce. We reject the notion of eternal torment (even though it is mentioned in the signature passage for Adventist identity (Revelation 14).

We have moved away from these things because of our commitment to progressing with God in his mission to humanity and our commitment to following the Spirit's guidance as we grow into a fuller understanding of the character of God.

Note:  I'll be interested to see how this trajectory of Christian interpretation plays out in our understanding of how to deal Christianly with homosexuality.

Parents and Kids

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship. Preliminary draft.
For July 14, 2012. Live streamed beginning about about 11:15 Pacific Time.

I got a call on Monday morning this week from my son Garrett. He told me about some business mail he was expecting to arrive at our house. He wanted me to keep my eyes open for it. Then we talked about his plans and how things were going in his pursuit a visa. Then we talked about an article I had written.

Later in the day, Shelley called. She had ordered a textbook for summer school at La Sierra University. It was supposed to have been delivered on Friday. What should she do? It was the second time there had been complications with this order. She needed the book immediately. She had checked the mail room at the university. It wasn't there. It wasn't at the dorm. What to do? We talked about a couple of options she could pursue. She called a little later. She had finally tracked it down. It had been delivered to the wrong department. I didn't actually do anything, but her phone call made me feel important.

Tuesday, I got a phone call from my eldest, Bonnie. She was getting ready to drive back home from Portland and she had a question about her truck. I'm not much of a mechanic, but this question was simple enough for me to have an opinion. She hung up with a plan of action. Again, I'm feeling pretty important.

The ultimate affirmation was a phone call from my daughter-in-law! She and Garrett were at some friends' house back in Michigan, and she was going to make desert biscuits for strawberry shortcake. Did I know my biscuit recipe off the top of my head?

The kids made my week. Their phone calls made me in turn, a business manager, a theologian, educational resource person, mechanic and baker. Not bad. No wonder I like my kids.

God is also pleased when humans interact with him in ways exhibit our appreciation of his wisdom, reliability, and affection.

Central to the message of the Bible are the twin truths: 1. God takes delight in humans as his children. 2. Humans find the richest, most satisfying life through respect for and confidence in God.

This is the written account of Adam's line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. . . . When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. Genesis 5:1, 3.

When God created humanity, he made us in the image of God. When Adam had a son, the son was “in his image.” (Verse 4).

How is humanity related to God? Something like the relationship between parents and children.

This same idea is forcefully present in the teachings of Jesus. At the heart of his most famous sermon is a series of statements about God as Father.

Don't make a public show of your generosity. Because your Father in heaven sees all of your giving and he will pay you back.

Don't pray for public effect. Instead be confident that God sees your praying and will respond.

Don't think you have to amass large quantities of prayers. Be sure your Father in heaven already knows what you need. And he doesn't need his arm twisted.

Don't worry about food and clothes. Your father takes care of the birds and flowers. Count on it, he will take care of you.

Be kind to our enemies because that's how your father acts. When you love your enemies you are moving in harmony with the habits of your Father in heaven who is wildly generous toward those who don't deserve it.

These passages highlight the back and forth flow of the parent/child model. As a parent takes pleasure in doing good things for his children, so God takes pleasures in providing for his children. As a parent has expectations for his children, God has expectations for his children.

Notice this passage where the prophet Jeremiah is speaking on God's behalf:

"I thought to myself, 'I would love to treat you as my own children!' I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land— the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me 'Father,' and I wanted you never to turn from me.” Jer. 3:19

Do you hear a father talking to his son: “I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land.” This reminds me of Jesus' declaration to his disciples, “Fear not, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32.

What would you give your kids, if you could? You would wipe away their debt. You would give them perfect health. Winsome personalities. You would make them smart. Holy. Gracious. Dependable. Affectionate. What wouldn't you give your kids if you could?

This is a picture of God. “I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land.”

And like a parent, God hopes for something back. “I looked forward to your calling me 'Father,' and I wanted you never to turn from me.” God has skin in this game. If he fails to win our allegiance, he is heart broken. If we cut off our relationship with God, it cuts him. We own a piece of God's heart that we cannot give back. We are inextricably, eternally intertwined with the happiness of God. Our failures wound him. If we reject him, he is cut to the core. Our triumphs make him glad.

When we enter into relationship with God, when we show him respect and affection, when we pay attention to what he says through the words of the prophets and through the Spirit and through the realms of nature and human experience, we bring him gladness. God hopes we will never turn from him.

When we embrace the disciplines that lead to well-being, God is pleased. When you decide to spend less so you can have more freedom in the management of your money. God cheers. When you make generosity part of your money management God is made proud by the wisdom of his son or daughter.

When you keep Sabbath—taking time for fellowship with God, time with family and with the family of God—God is pleased. It touches him. Just as a human father is touched when his grown children make room for him in their lives. Just as a human father is pleased when his grown children tend their own families' lives.

God is pleased when we call on him.

This connection of parent child relationships with the Divine-human relationship places a weighty responsibility on parents. And on aunts and uncles, teachers, and any other adult who touches the life of a young person.

Fathers you are a model for your children. They will read you back into God. They will interpret God through their life experience with you. So make it good.

If you want them to respect God, you must earn their respect. You cannot command it. How do you earn respect? Honesty. Holiness. Requiring more of yourself than you do of your children. And finally by showing respect for your children. We require our children to observe courtesy when we are talking to someone else. Don't interrupt. If it is absolutely essential, then at minimum, say, “Excuse me?”

If this is what we expect of our children—and it is proper to do so—it is the courtesy we will extend to them.

If we want our children to love God, we must win their love. It's pointless to command it.

If we want our children to believe God is generous, practice generosity. Not just with money. With our time, our affection, our approval.

Beware of the Laodicean syndrome. A Sabbath school teacher, life long church member, gracious, warm person, speaking of himself—he is wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. This is how God sees him. Really?

Let's go back to the passage in Jeremiah for a minute.

"I thought to myself, 'I would love to treat you as my own children!' I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land— the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me 'Father,' and I wanted you never to turn from me.” Jer. 3:19

In this passage Jeremiah is speaking to Israel on behalf of God. I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land. If you know the history of Israel, you know that God's relationship with Israel was complicated. God swings back and forth from passionate declarations of his love for Israel and outrage at their perverse behavior. Over and over, they reject him.

Still God claims them as his own. Through the prophets God talks as a grizzly mom about Israel's enemies. God is going to punish Israel's enemies because of what they have done to Israel. God says this even though he has also declared that he is going to allow those foreign nations to break Israel's defenses because of their rebellions against God. Then after the nations invaded Israel, God announces through the prophet: Whoa! I didn't mean for you to go that far!

The Bible is emphatic: God loves Israel. It is a love that stubborn and persistent. The question was never what did Israel have to do earn their place with God. It was rather how far could they go before God cut them off. The answer was it took repeated rejection for centuries and centuries before God turned from Israel as the primary carrier of his name on earth.

This gives courage to us. God is astonishingly patient. It gives us instruction for our own life with one another.

Parents be stubborn. Love like God. The more stubborn we are in our own love for our children, the more deeply we will be convinced of God's love for us.

168 Years of Spanking Is Enough

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Interview with Herbert Schmidt

An Interview with the Author of the WWU Presidential Search Letter

A fictional piece by John McLarty

A letter has been widely circulated commenting on the presidential search at WWU. The letter purports to be from “a group of constituents, alumni, educators, pastors, church members, medical professionals, students and parents.” Who are these people? The official version of the letter does not mention the names of any of these people. Actually, it turns out that I am the group whose views are represented by the contents of the letter: I am a constituent, a parent of a WWU graduate, a parent of an educator, a pastor, a church member, married to a medical professional, a parent and a student (having taken one class on the campus of WWU). Since the letter is about my views, I decided to track down the author. The letter was the brain child of Dr. Herbert Schmidt. I sat down with him at his office in Goodtown, Oregon, a small community near the Tri-cities.

McLarty: Dr. Schmidt, tell me a bit about yourself.

Dr. Schmidt: I'm an orthopedist. I graduated magna cum laude from Loma Linda, and have been practicing here in Goodtown for forty years. I'm a charter member of the Goodtown Seventh-day Adventist Church. I donated the land for our school and provided over half the money for its construction. I helped bring 3ABN to the local cable channel. I'm really proud of that. And I've gone on three Marantha mission trips.

McLarty: Tell me about your family.

Schmidt: I'm married. I have a son and two daughters.

McLarty: I've heard you're a bit of a curmudgeon, that sometimes you have caused conflict in the Goodtown Church.

Schmidt: Yes, some people say I'm a curmudgeon. I don't cause conflict. But I don't shy away from it either. For instance last year, our young pastor allowed kids to help serve communion. He had four young teenage boys—15, 16 years old, something like that—to distribute the bread after it had been consecrated. One of the kids was not even baptized. He wasn't even an Adventist. Anyway, when I saw this non-Adventist kid handling the sacred bread, I got up and very politely thanked him for his service, then I took the tray and told him I would do it instead. He could go sit with his mother.

McLarty: So it's very important to you that everything be done “decently and in order”?

Schmidt: I couldn't have said it better myself.

McLarty: Tell me about your youngest daughter. I understand she has said some very unkind things about you.

Schmidt: I don't understand her. I gave her everything money could buy. We raised her right. Out here in the country. She had her own horse. We sent her on mission trips. Sent her to Adventist schools. Now she won't let her kids visit here. She won't come for holidays. I don't understand it. And lately, she's been influencing her brother and sister. None of them will come for holidays. The last couple of summers they wouldn't let their kids come spend time on the farm in the summer.

McLarty: Why do you think that is?

Schmidt: My wife says my daughter says the grand kids are afraid of me. I don't understand that. Sure, I'm strict. But I have to be. They don't get any discipline at home, so I have to try to give the grand kids some sense of structure and rules and boundaries. I'm no harder on the grand kids than I was on my own kids. You know the Bible principle: spare the rod and spoil the child. Whatever else people may say, they don't say my kids were spoiled.

McLarty: So are your children in church?

Schmidt: I pray for them every day. Maybe I didn't pray enough for them when they were younger. My youngest daughter quit going to church practically the day she arrived at Walla Walla. I sent my kids to Walla Walla so they would have every advantage spiritually. Obviously, the college failed my youngest. The other two, as far as I know, did attend church while they were at Walla Walla. Both of them were involved in music, so I know they were in church when the choir or band performed. And sometimes they would mention something they heard in a sermon. But once they graduated, that was it. They were gone. So, again, I hold the college responsible. Obviously, it did not anchor them in the faith. Whatever religion it gave them was too shallow.

McLarty: So, would it be fair to say that you were motivated to write the letter because of the failures of the college to save your own kids?

Schmidt: That and more. You know when they put that Bryan guy in as college pastor, that really hurt. I had talked with Elder Torkelson about my nephew. He's the only person from that generation in our family that still talks to me. He's doing a great job as a pastor. His members know that when they go to church they're going to hear about the sanctuary, the end of the time, the close of probation and the importance of learning to do without milk and cheese in readiness for the end. They're going to hear Adventist sermons. Elder Torkleson promised he'd include my nephew's names on the list of candidates for the Walla Walla pulpit. Then, I don't know what happened. The next thing I hear is that they are bringing in a preacher from Southern. I figured that would be a good thing, given Southern's reputation. Instead, what do we get? Some theologically confused rhetorician. Then I learn this same guy is being proposed as the president of the university! I called Elder Torkelson. He said that if I would write out my concerns he would share them with the board.

McLarty: So you wrote the letter?

Schmidt: Writing is not my talent. I went over to the political science department at Whitman [College] and asked them if they could recommend someone who was good at political communication to help me. They recommended Bill Halbers. He's done stuff for Democratic candidates in both Washington and Oregon. He agreed to help me create the letter.

McLarty: Did you tell him what to say?

Schmidt: Well, I made sure we got in that part about spiritual formation. Can you believe it? An Adventist pastor who actually admits in public that he reads religious writers who aren't Adventist. After what Elder Wilson said at the General Conference? This guy Bryan even reads some books written by Catholics. I made sure we got that in.

McLarty: What about the part of the letter questioning Bryan's lack of academic experience?

Schmidt: Oh that. That was Halbers' idea. He said that we would never get the board's attention with just the spiritual formation stuff. He suggested that probably some of the board members read non-Adventist authors as well, so going after that wouldn't fly with some of the board. Also, Halbers made me put the spiritual formation information later in the paper. He said we had to lead with Bryan's Sunday church debacle because that might be persuasive with liberal Adventists for whom the Sabbath is about the only thing that makes them Adventist. I think Halbers did a great job. I think including the picture was a really great idea. It will connect with visual learners. At least that's what Halbers said.

McLarty: Where did you come up with your list of people who were concerned about Bryan?

Schmidt: That was easy. It's me. I'm a constituent, alumnus, church member, medical professional, and parent. I have talked with faculty who wondered whether Bryan had enough experience in academia to handle the presidency. And my nephew was nearly apoplectic when he heard that Bryan was being considered for the position. And I threw in students, because, after all, it is a college.

McLarty: Any last word:

Schmidt: First, I want to encourage other people to write letters. Look at what my humble missive accomplished. Second, I'd like to nominate Colin Standish or Dr. Pipim as president. They have the experience and credentials. And they would make sure that we don't have more kids coming out of Walla Walla without a life-long commitment to the church.


Editor's note: This is fiction. Fiction is only dangerous when it rings true. 

Spiritual Formation

A brief summary of a section of today's sermon.

Anti-spiritual formation rhetoric is alive and kicking again among some Adventists. Which is crazy given the fact that "spiritual formation" is synonymous with character development something very prominent in the writings of Ellen White.

We form ourselves spiritually by our habits. One of the most positive habits we can embrace is meditation. Of course, meditation can also be one of the most negative habits as well depending on the focus of our meditation.

Listening to others speak is a form of meditation. Listening to Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk on the left and right fuels our anger, frustration, suspicion and discontent. In other words listening to Rush is a choice to expose ourselves to spiritual erosion at best. Rush is toxic. So don't listen.  In the words of Psalm One, "Don't sit in the seat of mockers."

Rather meditate on God's law--i.e. God's beautiful words, the totality of divine revelation. This will form your soul in a positive way. It will lead to a sweeter, richer life and witness.

Edited Version of last week's sermon

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship, June 30, 2012 edited and preached again at WindWorks Fellowship, July 7, 2012. The changes are merely stylistic, not substantive.

Text: Psalm 1

A couple of weeks ago I was reading an article in Wired Magazine about Olympic hopeful Lolo Jones. You might wonder why Wired Magazine. It more commonly features articles about, hackers, technology innovators, start up geniuses. So why did Wired Magazine feature Lolo Jones, Olympic hurdler, in one of their articles? Because of her use of advanced technology.

The article was about her training to run the 100-meter hurdles at the London Olympics this summer.

To run a perfect race, to get the last tiniest fraction of efficiency out her body, Jones and her trainers plot every foot fall to within an inch or so. Every take off and landing has to be just so.

What Jones learned from the technology was that her left side was not quite as strong as her right side. So she and her trainers worked specifically to strengthen that side of her body. They discovered she sometimes landed with her center of mass slightly behind her lead foot, which would cause the loss of the tiniest fraction of a second.

The unaided eye could not have detected these things. Even ordinary video could not have picked it up. But using high tech monitors on her body and super high speed video, Ms. Jones was able to identify the problems and begin modifying her performance.

As an athlete, if you are going to perform at the highest possible level, you must have input from outside yourself. You can't watch yourself run or dive or swim. You need help from outside.

The same holds true in spiritual life. We need outside input.

Note these words from Psalm 1. (From the KJV just because I memorized it ages ago and like the way it sounds.)

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor standeth in the way of sinners,

nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD;

and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;

his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The person who stays away from the influence of the ungodly and gives attention to the law of God will be like a fruitful tree.

A couple of years ago, Karin gave me a fig tree. It survived the first winter, but the next season produced only two or three figs. So sometime in the middle of the summer, Karin put a lot of fertilizer on it. Within weeks it was starting to bud out new figs. I was astonished. I don't think I've ever seen such dramatic, almost immediate, response to fertilizer.

So now, we try to fertilize early in the spring and throughout the early part of the season. It's one of the rules for producing figs at our house.

How do we fertilize our lives so we produce fruit? What can we do to cultivate spiritual life, to enhance the quality of our relationships with God and other people? What can we do to build a better world?

According to these first verses of the first Psalm one key to enjoying a blessed life is to be picky about what holds our attention.

Do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly,

Do not stand in the way of sinners,

Don't sit in the seat of the scornful.

Instead,

Take delight in the law of the LORD;

Meditate in his law day and night.

If you want a blessed life, a fruitful life, an optimal life . . . Take delight in the law of the Lord. Meditate in his law day and night. How do you do that? What does this look like?

The phrase, “the law of God,” refers to the entire body of instruction God has given through the prophets, poets, and priests in the Bible. This includes the Ten Commandments and the Two Commandments and much more. When David advised meditating on “the law of God” he was saying, in effect, meditate on the Bible. Our term “Bible” is equivalent in our language and culture to “God's law” in his language and culture.

Note just for preachers:

A while back I was doing one of my favorite things: I was visiting with a couple of young ministers. They are smart people, devoted to God and the church. They are scholars. I love talking big ideas with them. At our last visit, near the end of our time together, I asked them, “What have you guys done this week to cultivate your lives as saints? You are obviously cultivating your minds. That's good. What are you doing to cultivate your souls? “

There was a long silence. Then a bit of confused conversation. It's not a common topic in our conversation. Most of us have opinions on all sorts of issues—issues in the church, in theology, politics, health care, environmental practice, investment strategy. We are ready for debates.

Psalm One calls us to something different. “Take delight in the law of the Lord. Meditate in his law. “

So what does it mean to meditate or in the words of the KJV, to take delight? This is not the same thing as studying. Study cultivates the mind. It is important. Meditation cultivates the soul (or heart or character).

Before I try to define meditation, a couple of anecdotes from campmeeting:

The first conversation: A friend of mine talked about the challenges of continuing to give care to a profoundly needy person. He's been at it for a decade. It taxes him to his limit and sometimes beyond. I am continually astonished at his generosity, his faithfulness, his heroic service. The other thing he almost always talks about when we are together is his quiet times out in the woods and mountains. He gets out into the beauty and quietness and meditates and finds refreshment for his soul. Meditation does not make his life easy. It does make his continued service possible.

The second conversation: A self-important Adventist bureaucrat told me about a new battle in Adventist prophecy-preaching circles. The “scholars” are fighting over the identity of the king of the north and the king of the south in Daniel 11. The bureaucrat cheerfully talked about his work to advance the “correct view.” In talking with this man, I heard a lot about study. I heard nothing about meditation.

Study may make us smarter regarding things that don't matter. Meditation makes us sweeter. And that does matter.

Study of obscure prophecies may enable us to articulate sophisticated-sounding speculations about the future. (This is not too far removed from fantasy.) Meditation will enable us to act wisely and effectively here in the real world, right now.

Let me be a little more pointed: When people study prophecy they always identify the “bad guys” as someone else. It's the Catholics or the Muslims, Republicans or Democrats, it's the communists, the Chinese, the Russians, an Arab. I have never heard a preacher on prophecy say, “Revelation here speaks about me, about us.” Instead preachers of prophecy congratulate themselves that they are not like the evil people described in Revelation.

Beware of an approach to the Bible that encourages you to damn others and congratulate yourself. And nearly always prophecy specialists fall into this trap.

Psalm One urges us: Delight yourself in God's law. Meditate on it day and night.

So how do you meditate? What does meditation mean? It means to give attention to something.

Coming to church is a form of meditation.

When we sing, we are giving our attention to the goodness, the promises, the grace of God. We are not learning anything—at least not in any academic or cognitive sense. When we sing, “Amazing Grace,” we are not analyzing or dissecting or critiquing grace. We are opening our souls to the flow of grace. We are savoring, celebrating, tasting the sweetness of grace.

The same is true of the sermon. When I tell you, “Tell the truth!” This does not come to you as new information. I am merely declaring what you, what we, already believe. I try to come up with interesting illustrations. I try to say things in a way that will hold your attention. But the bottom line is that I am telling you nothing you don't already know. God is love. You ought to avoid debt. Work hard. Study hard. Keep Sabbath. Savor sweet down time with God and family and friends. Is any of this really new information? No.

You might come to a new understanding of how some principle or rule applies in your life. You may suddenly realize you need to alter some pattern in your life. But this is most likely not because you suddenly received new information, but because you allowed the information greatest access to your life. And that is one of the great values of meditation. In meditation, we allow God's truth to move around in our minds, to shape our hearts.

When you participate in the music and when you listen to the sermons and when you text comments or questions you are meditating. You are allowing goodness and light to flow in and over and through you, conforming you more closely to his image. Meditation becomes a way for us to receive outside input on our performance. It provides guidance for enhanced living.

Since church attendance and listening to sermons is a form of meditation, be deliberate in your choice of preaching. Avoid preaching that specializes in condemnation. We may love it when preachers thunder against evil people. Beware. Such preaching can feed our own critical spirits. Not good.

Optimal spiritual life needs more meditation than an hour and a half once a week. Church attendance is great. It is probably not enough if you are interested in spiritual excellence. Daily practice is best. So how do you meditate when you're not at church?

One of the first and easiest ways to meditate is set up by your participation in church. We come to church and sing songs over and over. With time, these songs become deeply rooted in our minds. They sing themselves to us spontaneously for no apparent reason. This past week, snatches of three different songs kept running through my mind.

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord, have mercy on me.

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me

Hallelujah all my sins are washed away.

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

The songs are confident, bright, full of grace and hope. And when they were running through my mind, my thoughts are confident, bright, full of grace and hope. This is a form of meditation. I know many of you play religious music on the radio or CD player during the week. This music is a form of meditation. It is giving attention to the grace and rules of God.

It is a standing invitation to God to shape your heart.

Another way to meditate is to use the words of the Bible. Here's an example:

Take a short passage of Scripture, for instance, Matthew 7:11. “If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Read it, then use your imagination to amplify it, to roll it around in your mind.

If you had a million dollars what gift would you give your children? What would you give them if you didn't have a million dollars? If your kid or grand kid needed something, what would you be willing to go without so they could have what they needed? How many nights did you forgo sleep to be present with your sick child? How many nights would you be willing to be miserably awake if your kid needed you to?

Your own regard for your children is a window into God's regard for you. God is at least as nice, as generous, as forgiving, as merciful toward you as you could imagine being toward your children.

If you—plain, ordinary, unremarkable you—would be willing to lavish education, medicine, discipline, hours helping with homework, trips to Disneyland, or the hassle of dealing with a puppy . . . if you would be willing to this and more for your children, how much more will your Father in heaven do for you.

Spend time imaging what you would do for your children, then turn it around and imagine your tenderness toward your children as a mirror of God's generosity toward you.

Then, after spending some time imagining this as God's affection toward you, bring to mind others in your life—family, friends, neighbors, co-workers. Not the whole world, but specific people that come to your mind as you are doing this practice of meditation. Imagine God's affection toward these others. Request that God show them his affection, give them the capacity to understand the richness of heaven's love. Ask God to demonstrate his love in their lives by providing for them concrete tangible blessings.

Once you have learned to pray this way for people you naturally love, then try it for the people you naturally loathe. Pray for politicians. Not for all of them generically, but for the ones you most despise. This will move you away from the company of the mockers.

A serious threat to the health of our nation right now is the way Christians are ignoring the counsel of Psalm One when we step into the political realm. We are nice at church. We are generous to our neighbors, then, when we step in the realm of politics we succumb to the temptation to join in with mockers and repeat their words via email and facebook. The most astonishing example of this was a ninety-year old elder who forwarded to his large email list (including me) a picture of a nude woman. The reason he forwarded it was because supposedly it was a picture of President Obama's mother, and the good elder was so eager to mock the president he couldn't help himself. So instead of hitting delete when he received it, he hit forward.

We all know—or should know—the Bible's stern condemnation of gossip. But somehow when it comes to politics we freely pass on every rumor, every juicy bit of slander, no matter how unrelated to actual policy. God expects better of us.

Psalm One warns against standing with sinners or hanging out with mockers.

Let me be explicit: This passage warns against Rush Limbaugh. He is a superb mocker. He is brilliant in the use of invective, sarcasm, half truths, hinted lies, distorted quotations. His personal life is a case study in venal wickedness. He has a foul mouth. We may love it when he skewers politicians we disagree with, but that love rises from an unhealthy place in our souls. God calls us to higher, nobler forms of political discourse. Christians ought to stay away from Rush's influenece.

Blessed is the person who does NOT walk in the counsel of the ungodly or join in with mockers. I pick on Limbaugh because he is the so famous. There are plenty of other people with foul mouths and a very loose commitment to respect—people on both sides of the political divide. They are skillful at mockery. They are not our models. The Bible warns us away from them and their methods.

Let's circulate ideas about legislation we would like to see passed. Let's argue about the optimal way to structure government so that it protects without stifling, so that it brings us together as a genuine community without hindering private initiative and individual freedom. There is plenty of room for vigorous debate over optimal forms of government. There is no room for mockery, no place for character assassination. Obviously, we can't control the world's delight in mucking around. We can choose a better way for ourselves.

Let's delight ourselves in the law of God. Let's deliberately take time to give happy attention to the principles of life outlined in the Bible. This begins with refusing to join in with mockers and sinners as they heap scorn and abuse on everyone who disagrees with them.

Now let me turn from politics to something every trickier: home.

Parents, never mock your children. Do not mock them for being slow or stupid or noisy or careless or thoughtless or rebellious. Never, ever mock your children. There are times, of course, when you must correct them. You may need to pronounce stern words of condemnation on particular behaviors: “That is not right!” “That is unacceptable!” But never mock your children. And hopefully they will absorb the culture of respect you establish and refrain from mocking you when they are changing your diapers or answering for the hundredth time the same question you've been asking all day.

When we delight in and meditate on God's law we will be like fertilized fig trees, like well-coached Olympic athletes. Or in the words of Psalm One, we will be like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in season and whose leaves never wither. Whatever we do will prosper.

Let's be clear: In meditation we are deliberately choosing what we focus on. Even when it comes to the Bible, not every part is equally useful for meditation. If your goal is to deepen your compassion and mercy, to fill your life with greater sweetness and light, you'll want to choose passages that fertilize those things. Don't spend your time focusing on the dreary passages of the book of Obadiah. Don't waste precious life studying Daniel 11 or the Trumpets of Revelation. There are far richer, sweeter, more nourishing passages. Focus on Psalm 23, John 3:16, Luke 4:16 or Luke 15. Focus on passages that increase your confidence in God's grace, that enhance your skill in loving and serving.

Lolo Jones wants to run a perfect race, so she makes use of the best available tools to help train her body for that perfect run. We want to live a perfect life, coaxing one hundred percent from ourselves. One of the greatest tools available to us is meditation. It is a way to allow the wisdom of God to permeate our entire being. It is a way to soak in the light and love of God.

This week take some time to give attention to God, and to good words about his compassion and grace, his wisdom law. Your life will be enriched. You will make the world better.